If you start your own business, besides coming up with a name and registering yourself at the Chamber of Commerce, claiming your place online is one of the first things you do. You depend on a hosting provider for registering a domain name for your website and hosting your platform. Because your online platform will soon be your online business card, or in the case of a webshop, even the basis of your company, you must select the right partner. But how do you choose the party that suits you best from all those providers and what should you pay attention to? The following four tips can help you with this. You can go for the server provider reviews there.
Does the hosting provider fit the purpose of your website? Take stock of the offer.
Two questions are important here:
- What will you use the website for? Is it a simple platform just to present yourself online, or is it a professional webshop where you expect a lot of traffic and peak load? This is an essential factor that determines how much capacity you need and whether you need a provider with shared hosting solutions where you share the capacity on the server with others, or whether you choose a VPS Virtual Private Server solution where you have the server to yourself.
- Which CMS will you use? WordPress, Umbraco or a heavy program like Magento or a Java-based CMS? Not all providers support all these applications, so it is good to have this clear if you are looking for a supplier.
Investigate how security is guaranteed
Whether it’s a simple website where people can also subscribe to a newsletter, or an e-commerce platform that collects data from your customers with every transaction: you want to be able to count on the data people leave behind to be safe, and their privacy is guaranteed. Therefore, investigate whether a provider is ISO 27001: 2013 certified. This shows that they give a high priority to a safe and reliable hosting environment. If you are active in the medical sector, also check whether the provider is certified. This is the standard for the security of medical data and contains extra points of attention, such as privacy protection.
Think about what support you need
It may be that there are malfunctions on your website or maybe you would like to be helped with redirecting other URLs to your central platform. Is it sufficient that the helpdesk of your hosting provider is only available between 9.00 and 12.00 in the morning, has a response time of 3 hours and solves a malfunction if you accidentally encounter it? Or do you want maximum accessibility, by telephone, by email and via social media, and a guaranteed continuity? Important considerations influence your choice. See when and in which ways your provider can be reached and whether it proactively monitors whether malfunctions occur. This ensures that once you have made your choice and need support, you will not be faced with unpleasant surprises.
Don’t just think about now, but take future plans into account.
Look beyond the coming year and anticipate future needs. You may be expanding faster than expected and need more webspace, email boxes, or MySQL databases. In that case, can you easily upgrade? And does your hosting provider also offer other managed services that match the development of your company? It is advisable to choose a hosting provider that can grow with you.
Tips for comparing servers
A fast server should not be missing to build a website yourself. There are several options when purchasing or renting a server. Consider, for example, the difference between a so-called VPS and shared web hosting. In this article, we give you several tips that make it easier to make an informed choice. A fast server is not only essential to provide the best possible service to visitors. You also want to prevent that the website is regularly unreachable, that the server has a negative influence on your positions in the search results, and so on.
Choose between your own server, a VPS and shared web hosting.
When comparing servers, you first have the choice between buying and renting server space. Purchasing a physical server is often only interesting if you have sufficient knowledge about networks, servers and hardware in general. Maintaining a server can also have a significant impact on your energy consumption at home. By choosing a VPS, you still have your own server, but then externally. This is a considerable difference compared to shared web hosting, where you share server space with other website owners. Want to know more about a VPS?
Up-time and speed of servers
When you have chosen to rent a server, you can look at the up-time and speed of servers. A fast server provides greater ease of use when visiting the website and can have a positive influence on the ranking of the website in the search results. Similar to the speed of a server, up-time also plays a role. The up-time represents the percentage of time that a website can be reached. A low up-time means that the server is regularly offline.
There are not only numerous companies that offer web hosting, but there is also plenty of choice in terms of hosting packages. So how do you smartly choose the most suitable hosting? The four tips below will help you do that, so take advantage of it.
First Make a Cost Statement
There may be a considerable variation in the costs that hosting providers charge. Therefore, make sure you have a good idea of how much budget you have and where the limit for you lies in this area. In any case, it is wise to request multiple quotes to have good comparison material. A tip is not to save on webshop hosting, because a technically good digital presence is essential today. This certainly applies if you have your webshop or if your website functions as the main source of your income. If there is one thing that really costs real money, it is a website that ‘pops out’ incidentally or regularly.
Note the Content Management System
An important point of attention when choosing a suitable host is the Content Management System (CMS) that is used. With this management system, you manage the website. That is why it is good that the CMS appeals to you, is practical, and you can use the CMS system optimally. There are hosting companies that offer the option to choose from multiple types of CMS, such as WordPress, Joomla, Umbraco or Drupal. Other companies only offer one specific CMS.
Keep an Eye on Safety
A crucial point of attention in web hosting is security. Not only do you want to prevent your website from being hacked or shut down, but you also wish to the data of customers or employees who log into the site to be safe. Suppose security problems or data leaks occur, this could just mean the end of your company. Therefore, make sure you have a good overview of the security measures of the host, such as VPS measures, check online reviews and make clear contractual agreements about safety aspects.
Determine Which Support Is Desirable
Ideally, a contract with a host also includes support agreements that you want to be able to claim. Do you want to be helped immediately in the event of a malfunction? Are backups made regularly? And do you want immediate help if something goes wrong with your homepage? Have these things properly recorded and create clear, written agreements with the host.
